If you can't get a loaner... VENTING!!

[g0at23]

I read this in another thread and I just wanted to vent and help members that haven't stood up for themselves. This was from a M3 owner who cannot get a loaner.

1st of all, BMW as of late, builds shitty cars. There I said it. It has tons of problems. I already brought my car in for faulty brake light malfunction twice, Replaced the whole drivers side muffler cause it sounds like a chain saw, and leak in the oil tank. I have only 18,000 miles. Not mentioning replacing run flats. GEE... and I haven't hit the two biggest problems (HPFP, wastegates) for N54.

This plus BMW's lenient and highly advertised "free service & bumper to bumper warranty" which makes some people bring in their cars for the dumbest/pettiest reasons. How many people here brought their car in cause they heard a sqeak. A FREAKING SQEAK FOR GOD SAKES!! I know I am quilty of this. These 2 problems caused a huge surplus in service related issues.

BMW dealerships had to come up with a tactic to minimize loaners that go out. The reason is, ask yourself, how many loaners can they possibly give out? If there are 1000 cars in the service department, would it be wise for them financialy to give out 1000 loaners?

How do they pick and choose who to give loaners to? Easy! Who ever complains the most. If your an asshole, I guarentee you will 100% get one. To be honest, if they give you the bullshit we have no loaners line while your spending a fortune on a car, you should be an asshole to them. Your paying for transportation when you make your monthly payments... Why should you be without a car? Its not like your bringing your car in to put in a sup'ed up exhaust system. Your bringing your car in because the quality of their cars failed. You shouldn't be punished for it.

They are beting that they fixed the problem before you demand a ride home. So they will try and trick you... string you along... as many times as possible until you get your car back.

I too go to Hassel BMW. The time I brought my car in cause my muffler broke, they told me it will be ready tomorrow. I asked them for a loaner and they told me "Sorry we have no loaners left, you need to find a way home." Just so happens I had a ride home that day and a ride back the next day so I did not make a big deal out of it... I came back the next day and they told me the problem was bigger than they thought and it will be out a week. I asked for the loaner again and got the reply "I just don't have a loaner available, we are booked up." I said well go talk to your manager." He comes back and said "yea my manager said theres nothing we can do." I LAUGHED and said "well I pay $700 a month to drive so its not my problem the car doesn't drive anymore." "You better start dialing up a rental before I make some calls." Right away I got a rental.

I thought this was only at Hassel so I brought my car to other dealerships hoping for better service. I was so turned off from the bad experience I got from Hassel. Well guess what? 4 dealerships later and I got the same BS lines, and everytime I asked for a rental got the same reply. Not just from Hassel. I also asked around other BMW owners and read 1000 posts on this. Same results. They try their best not to give you a loaner. Some will say it nicely and some will try to bully you out of a ride home. I hope someone here comfirms that the SA's ARE TRAINED TO DO SO.

Long story short. No one here should ever "find a way home." For now on every nasty reply or lackluster service I get from BMW. They will get a complaint to BMWNA and bad reviews. If I hear another BS line or get a nasty reply I will be a complete jerkoff at the dealership. Time to stand up. It took a dateline NBC story to get some effort from BMW to try and solve the HPFP issue. How sad is that?

[///My5UV]

Depends on the dealer and how it's run... Here in Austin it used to suck... rarely BMW loaners, usually Enterprise cr@pboxes...until Penske group bought them and turned it around. Now as long as I call ahead I always get a loaner... even for my old '98 car I bought from someone else.

[Buschy]

yeah probably each dealer different, I think your main problem in not making an appointment. If I make an appointment I get a loaner period. If I don't cause the problem is immediate, I get a loaner. If I don't get a loaner, They have a porter that will bring you and pick you up..

The other local dealer will come get your car and bring it back also.
I have bought several cars and I am a "good" customer.. at least I think, haha.,

[elh0102]

It’s the car business, and BMW is no better or worse than others. The only way around service frustration, buy an out-of-warranty Honda and take it to a local shop, all you’ll need is oil changes

[lovethem4]

Never had a problem getting a loaner, ever. 3 BMW dealers in 2 states.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by buschy

yeah probably each dealer different, I think your main problem in not making an appointment. If I make an appointment I get a loaner period. If I don't cause the problem is immediate, I get a loaner. If I don't get a loaner, They have a porter that will bring you and pick you up..

I didn't see anything in his post that said he was going in without appointments. But yeah, if that is the case then there's no way he should be expecting a loaner. In fact, with no appointment I would be worried that my car would get poor quality service or even abused.

OP, I understand that sometimes your car has an issue and cannot be driven so you need to get it in right away, but logistically it is impossible for them to always have a loaner ready with no notice. I suspect that if you are polite you could work out an agreement on a rental or some other solution.

My dealership typically offers me a loaner with a service appointment even though none of my current or past BMWs were purchased from them. Pretty good service, I'd say.

[James T. Kirk]

Originally Posted by g0at23

I too go to Hassel BMW.

Hassel BMW... giving you a "hassle"... Really?!?

Mr. Hassel must have a huge ego to put such an "unfortunate" name on a dealership.

Really?!

That's like me opening a child day care center called "Slaughter Kids Center" because my name is Mr. Joe Slaughter.

Really!

[Erhan]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

because my name is Mr. Joe Slaughter.

Really!

Really?

[zhangzeyuandss]

to be honest. I never had any problem in terms of getting a loaner. Most dealerships here in Chicago area always have enough cars for loaners. Most of the time, i just show up for repair and they had one ready.

[zhangzeyuandss]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

Hassel BMW... giving you a "hassle"... Really?!?

Mr. Hassel must have a huge ego to put such an "unfortunate" name on a dealership.

Really?!

That's like me opening a child day care center called "Slaughter Kids Center" because my name is Mr. Joe Slaughter.

Really!

[g0at23]

I was born and raised here in NYC. I guess things are different here because it is congested with many people driving BMW's but the service here suck. They should really expand their service deparments here.

[///My5UV]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

Mr. Hassel must have a huge ego to put such an "unfortunate" name on a dealership.
That's like me opening a child day care center called "Slaughter Kids Center" because my name is Mr. Joe Slaughter.

Haha, you'll like this, then... Slaughter Road Day Care

[mkoesel]

LOL. Loved SNL segment, BTW. I miss Amy.

I wonder what he would have done for the dealership name if his name was Mr. Ben Dover?

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

Hassel BMW... giving you a "hassle"... Really?!?

Mr. Hassel must have a huge ego to put such an "unfortunate" name on a dealership.

Really?!

That's like me opening a child day care center called "Slaughter Kids Center" because my name is Mr. Joe Slaughter.

Really!

[M&AGuy]

wow - sorry for the off topic post - but I'm still laughing and had to share: after a quick read of the subject line I thought this was a Viagra complaint. Then I rubbed my eyes and saw "loaner"

[Buschy]

Originally Posted by g0at23

They are beting that they fixed the problem before you demand a ride home. So they will try and trick you... string you along... as many times as possible until you get your car back.

I too go to Hassel BMW. The time I brought my car in cause my muffler broke, they told me it will be ready tomorrow. I asked them for a loaner and they told me "Sorry we have no loaners left, you need to find a way home." Just so happens I had a ride home that day and a ride back the next day so I did not make a big deal out of it... I came back the next day and they told me the problem was bigger than they thought and it will be out a week. I asked for the loaner again and got the reply "I just don't have a loaner available, we are booked up." I said well go talk to your manager." He comes back and said "yea my manager said theres nothing we can do." I LAUGHED and said "well I pay $700 a month to drive so its not my problem the car doesn't drive anymore." "You better start dialing up a rental before I make some calls." Right away I got a rental.

This to me says he didnt have an appointment, maybe I read to much into it.

Originally Posted by mkoesel

I didn't see anything in his post that said he was going in without appointments. But yeah, if that is the case then there's no way he should be expecting a loaner. In fact, with no appointment I would be worried that my car would get poor quality service or even abused.

OP, I understand that sometimes your car has an issue and cannot be driven so you need to get it in right away, but logistically it is impossible for them to always have a loaner ready with no notice. I suspect that if you are polite you could work out an agreement on a rental or some other solution.

My dealership typically offers me a loaner with a service appointment even though none of my current or past BMWs were purchased from them. Pretty good service, I'd say.

[jrlee53]

Have you tried Habberstad in Bay Shore? i know Rallye only gives loaners to people who bought from their dealership. Unfortunately, loaner policy is per dealer, some give you a loaner as long as you're under bmw warranty and places like Rallye only give them to Rallye customers which bites. I've had pretty good experience at the Bay Shore location. Not so great at Huntington, same owners, but service is run differently for some reason. Just gotta make sure you call in advance and make an appt and they usually have openings next day or the the day after to get a loaner.

[derric]

This is the bad thing about BMW, I previously had a Lexus and getting a loaner was never a problem. The problem became whether or not they had the loaner model you wanted. They even offered me a loaner for a 1 hour oil change...

[valeram]

I never had any loaner problem as long as you schedule your service ahead of time. Dealers have limited number of loaner cars so you don't expect them to hand you one if you just show up for service.

[FLOSS M]

Westchester BMW is now owned by Ray Catena Motors and they offer loaner cars only for their customers. I use BMW of Greenwich, they offer loaner cars to any customer, if available, and they offer a courtesy shuttle back and forth to the dealership.

[Crimson92]

just wanted to add that loaners are at the discretion of the dealer and not mandatory from BMW.

consider yourself lucky that you get a loaner.

and you cant be mad that your didnt get one if you didnt have an appointment

please dont throw out the "I paid XXXXX amount for this car, i deserve one"

[zhangzeyuandss]

Originally Posted by Crimson92

just wanted to add that loaners are at the discretion of the dealer and not mandatory from BMW.

consider yourself lucky that you get a loaner.

and you cant be mad that your didnt get one if you didnt have an appointment

please dont throw out the "I paid XXXXX amount for this car, i deserve one"

+1. on making the call first. It would be much smoother for both you and dealer that way. I knew it is not always possible if your car just broke down in the middle of the street.

[NYCMCBM3]

I get this same story every time i got to Hassel, they are always booked , even tho i see like 20 loaners on the lot ,and on one occasion , they gave away my loaner for being 1 hr late ,and i had to wait 23 more days to get my navi screen fixed.